'Silent' vultures turn out to use a wide range of sounds to communicate
Vultures were long thought to make few and fairly simple sounds. Yet no one had investigated in detail how the birds use sound to communicate. For his master's thesis in Jorg Massen's Vulture Cognition Lab, Connor Proudfoot studied the critically endangered Rüppell's vulture. He and his colleagues found that the birds produce a wide range of complex sounds, which they use in a range of social…
For centuries, vultures were believed to be silent creatures, only occasionally uttering simple sounds. However, a recent study has revealed that some vultures, particularly Rüppell’s vultures, communicate using a wide range of complex vocalizations. These birds, found in the Sahel and East Africa, often form large colonies where they compete for carcasses and maintain a social hierarchy.
Connor Proudfoot, a researcher in Jorg Massen’s Vulture Cognition Lab, spent 150 hours recording the vocalizations of Rüppell’s vultures at two colonies, analyzing 2,500 distinct sounds. He identified 16 different call types, some of which were highly variable, allowing the birds to convey varying levels of excitement. This finding suggests that vultures use sound more complexly than previously thought, with a vocal repertoire that rivals that of some monkey species.
The researchers also found that chicks begin vocalizing inside the egg two days before hatching, raising the possibility that captive breeding programs could benefit from understanding and facilitating these early vocalizations. Additionally, the sounds produced by mating pairs may influence other pairs to mate, potentially aiding in reproduction. These insights could be valuable for the conservation of critically endangered Rüppell’s vultures.
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